Top Picks – The Top Five Features that I Want to See Again in Future Games

So by the time this is up, there would be less than 72 hours before Pokémon X and Y are released worldwide. Now we all know that Game Freak has added many awesome features in past generations, only to take them out in newer games. This list will include some of the features that I actually liked and hope to see again in the future. I’ll admit that these features aren’t exactly essential to the gaming experience, but I would say they would be nice bonuses. Well without further ado, let’s begin!

#5) The VS Seeker

This was a handy item.

What, you guys don’t recognize this little gadget? This is the VS Seeker, a key item that was introduced in Fire Red and Leaf Green. What this thing does is enable you to detect any NPCs nearby who would want a rematch. I thought this gadget was great back then because it allowed you to battle some NPCs over and over to grind EXP and poke-cash. Although it had a quirky recharge requirement of 100 steps, I still liked it. In older games, most NPCs were pretty much worthless once you defeated them. The VS Seeker remedies the problem by making them into a renewable source for grinding. I seriously hope this thing comes back someday, or Game Freak decides to naturally allow you to rematch NPCs directly.

#4) Walking Pokémon

Have you ever seen a Wailord follow you on land? Try it sometime.

You guys know this feature from Pokémon Yellow, Heart Gold, and Soul Silver. Having your Pokémon follow you around everywhere was hilarious in those games, especially if they were huge like Wailord. Not only does it allow you interact with your favorite Pokémon, but it also immerses you in the experience. Remember how Pikachu always follows Ash in the anime? Well you could do the same thing with this fun little feature. With the new Pokémon Amie coming in X and Y, I’d imagine have this feature would be a great complement to boost the whole interacting with your team thing. Also, with the new 3D models from X and Y, this feature would probably be much cooler.

#3) Side Quests

Those quests were very intriguing.

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 introduced a cool side quest that revealed a new character that could interact often with your character. The new character would be a girl named Yancy if your character was a dude, or a guy named Curtis if your character was a female. In the game, you could engage in several events to help the character and bond with them in a sense. The reason why I liked this feature was because it gave bonuses to the story and the gameplay. In terms of story, the new character became something like a love interest for your MC, which was a new experience for Pokémon. Along with adding to the story a bit, the side quests with the other character gave access to trading for some pretty cool Pokémon. If this feature were to return in future games, it wouldn’t necessarily have to involve some love interest. Instead, perhaps there could be multiple quest lines to bond with your friends/rivals or to meet characters from previous games. I think the feature of side quests has a lot of potential and could be great in future Pokémon games.

#2) Secret Bases

I loved the idea behind this. Gen III kicked ass.

This was absolutely one of my favorite features from Ruby and Sapphire. It really wasn’t necessary for the gameplay, but it was fun as hell to explore and find new bases. There were so many different types of bases located all throughout The Hoenn region. My friends and I used to always try to find the most obscure locations for our bases. The ability to decorate the rooms with various goods, such as plushies and tvs, was also quite enjoyable. Another part of secret bases that I enjoyed a lot was being able to challenge an AI version of my friend’s teams. One of the only problems I had with secret bases was the fact that you would have to system link to update any changes. Now this was understandable with the limitations of the GBA back in the day, but it still was a pain in the ass. Since the 3DS has superb capabilities to connect to others via Streetpass or wifi, secret bases could be updated very often, if they existed of course. I really want this feature to come back, as it would add even more variety and options for customizing. Now that we can customize our MCs to match our unique style in X and Y…why not have the ability to create a little base of operations as well?

#1) HM Dive

The graphics for this were barren, but the concept was unique.

Now I know a lot of people hate HMs. I personally hate them as well, but dive was an interesting one that allowed us to reach another level of exploration: under the sea. Gen III honestly had a lot of cool features to show off, but a lot of them were cut out for some reason. I know having to surf across most of the region was a pain, but diving wasn’t that bad. The only things that were kind of disappointing about it were the lack of graphics and the slow movement. While these problems are a result of the limited technology of the GBA, the 3DS certainly has a lot of power and can pull of some nice looking stuff, as we all saw in the many X and Y trailers. Imagine how cool it would be to explore underwater caves and capturing deep-sea Pokémon again! Also, it appears that the Kalos region has a vast coastal region with its own dedicated Pokédex, so I seriously hope they consider adding dive again for the next installment.

Conclusion

It’s almost time…

So these are a few of the features that I would like to see again in future Pokémon games. While I did mention earlier that most of these are not a necessity towards the core gameplay, I think they would be wonderful additions that would expand our experiences. I doubt any of these features will be implemented in X and Y, but maybe future installments could do so. Also, if there are any really awesome features that I neglected, feel free to leave a comment. I did kind of rush this list, so I probably forgot about a ton of other cool things. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Pokémon experience with X and Y, because I’m so unbelievably hyped up for it right now!

One response to “Top Picks – The Top Five Features that I Want to See Again in Future Games”

I agree with all of them. Probably the one that I care about the least is secret bases, but I still wouldn’t mind at least having the option in game :)
VS seeker is probably what I want to most, unless they let you just talk to people you’ve already battled to get into a battle straight away. Although, it might be better if you could talk to them, and then a yes/no option to battle comes up?
Pokemon walking with you just adds such dimension to the game, and I squeed at the sight of my team following me :) I was ELATED to see it in HG :) And there’s something HILARIOUS about the massive Pokemon following you.
And I think it would be great to have Dive again! Although I sort of wished that there was MORE to do in diving in Hoenn, although there was still quite a chunk. I guess I just loved it so much that I wouldn’t mind, say, some underwater quests or something? Maybe underwater side quests? :D
Great post :)